Album Review: THE BURIAL In the Taking of Flesh

It’s pretty tough to get noticed in metal these days. There are so many established bands that have been around for ages and continue to make great music, sometimes it’s really tough to find those gems that aren’t huge names (yet). That’s why it’s a pretty good idea to not judge a band by its cover art. In regards to The Burial, and In the Taking of Flesh, you might expect another teenage metal/deathcore group. But when you actually take a listen, you end up getting so much more.

In the Taking of Flesh was definitely quite surprising. The opener, “En-hakkore” begins with orchestral strings playing a dark melody only to have the guitars come in and finish out the melody accompanied with blast beats. Double picking, swift drumming and even confusing breakdown sections are all present, which also gives a good sample of other elements to come. If only judging from the intro, it might be safe to assume that the rest of the album would lean mostly on the melodic death metal side but the album has quite a bit more to offer than that.

It’s actually quite difficult to try to lump In the Taking of Flesh into a singular genre of metal. There are several elements of melodic death metal, metalcore, technical death metal, progressive metal, and maybe even a little blackened death popping up at various points throughout the album. It’s a pretty interesting method of song-writing, as it keeps your ears on your toes as you listen. Its complex song structures keeps you guessing, and might even surprise you at certain points.

For instance, “In the Taking of Flesh: Theanthropos” is a mostly prog song in general. It begins with an odd-metered riff and develops into heavier and sporadic passages. The next song, “In the Taking of Flesh: Diakonos”, continues the journey in pure prog fashion by being more ambient, while developing into a slow build that starts from the ambiance moving up to double-picking and blast beats. But the song that follows this 2-song set, “Wretched Restless Forms” begins with the tech influence and moves into more of the metalcore influences. This is definitely one of the best songs of the album and it’s definitely where drummer Kaleb Luebchow shines the most.

“Of Jasper and Carnelian” is definitely my favorite track on the album. After beginning with fast and charged death metal sections, it seamlessly transitions into an epic and blackened passage of pretty intense proportions. The strings come back as an undertone, guitarist/vocalist Elisha Mullins exercises his singing abilities, and it all just makes for an extremely intense section. You really don’t see it coming, and The Burial doesn’t really go through these styles again throughout the album. But for the one moment, the band shows just how diverse their writing really goes. Personally, when I first heard this song, I had to start it over again just to hear the section begin a second time because I simply thought it was awesome songwriting; definitely the highest point in the album for me.

In the Taking of Flesh is a fantastic album and offers more than just a singular theme or style. If you like more variety in your metal, you need to give The Burial a go. Or, if you’re a fan of prog metal, or technical death, or just good metal, you probably should give it a go.